My Affordable Thanksgiving Table Décor & the Recipes I Used

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As you might know, this was my first year hosting Thanksgiving so I had to make it extra special with pretty Thanksgiving table décor 🙂 I know we are past Thanksgiving and into Christmas already, but I can’t help but share! Hopefully you can get some ideas for next year. And I also wanted to share the recipes I used and what I cooked if this is your first time hosting Thanksgiving. I thought everything turned out delicious and would absolutely make again. There are a few notes I will add on what I would do differently if I host again next year. Some of these recipes you can use too if you are hosting any Christmas events.

Background

We usually do Thanksgiving with Kurt’s family. In the past, his mom has hosted our very large group. I think in the past we had about 25-30 people! It was crazy and fun and loud haha. Eventually she got tired of doing it every year so Thanksgiving has been a little less traditional the last few years. Some years we would go to my parents, we have gone out to dinner (which made things really nice and easy to clean up), Kurt’s aunt has hosted, everyone came to Chicago a few years too. This year I decided I wanted to finally do it. After all, I registered for a large roasting pan when we got married almost ten years ago and this was my first time using it for a turkey! I’ve always wanted to do this!

Plus, last year, my mom unloaded a bunch of her holiday décor and passed down all of her beautiful turkey plates and platter. I was really excited to use them this year.

This year we ended up having 10 adults and four kids plus my nephew who wasn’t quite one yet.

Thanksgiving Table Décor

Since my moms plates are more traditional in terms of color, I wanted to play off the browns in the plates. I first found this brown gingham tablecloth and thought it would be perfect for the base of my table. Plus it was really inexpensive!

I didn’t end up having enough cloth napkins so I ordered these white ones. I probably would have bought a fun color, but we do host a lot so I know white goes with everything and I will use them again.

These placemats were exactly what I was looking for, but didn’t know I needed- I was really excited when I found them! And the price wasn’t too bad. They totally make the table too.

I added a larger white dinner plate to make my Thanksgiving table décor layered and prettier, but next year I don’t think I will do this. It just caused more dishes haha.

I was originally going to buy this centerpiece because it is gorgeous. But I thought I could make something similar and I love what I pulled together. There was a little drama around my flowers haha. I went to Trader Joe’s the Tuesday before Thanksgiving thinking I would be able to get all of my shopping done and also grab my flowers. They had zero flowers- completely out! And they were out of stock on so many other items. Turns out there was a truck delay, but I was able to go the next day and they had flowers and everything else I needed.

I knew I wanted magnolia leaves because the color of them is perfect and rich and I knew they would look gorgeous on my table. And then I added in white roses and these cool yellow flowers. No idea what the name is, but they looked really pretty!

Kids Thanksgiving Day Table

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I had the most fun with the kids Thanksgiving table décor! Originally we were supposed to have more people but they ended up getting sick and couldn’t make it at the last minute. So my original idea was to have another long table for the kids. When I realized there weren’t going to be as many kids, I shifted and decorated Sloane’s toddler table.

I used all throw away items for the kids table. They had a fun tablecloth they could color on, paper plates and cute turkey décor to enjoy their meal with.

Recipes I Used for Our Thanksgiving Day Meal

Turkey

This was my first turkey and while I was a little nervous, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I ordered a 16 lb turkey from Village Market. If you are local, you can reserve it online which made it really easy. I thought we had plenty of leftover turkey so it was the right amount. If I had a larger group, I might have gotten bigger turkey. If we ended up having the full amount of guests we probably would have had very little leftover, if any.

I did so much research on how to cook your turkey and the best recipes. I ended up dry brining the turkey the day before using this recipe here. It was really easy and and I had all of the ingredients on hand, so I thought why not? And I tried it. I think this is what really made the turkey moist and delicious!

To cook the turkey, I used this recipe. Again, super easy and very flavorful. I did end up having to cook my turkey about an hour longer than I had originally intended because it wasn’t done yet. I put the turkey in at 10:30am and pulled it out around 3:30pm. About halfway thru, I covered it with tinfoil so it wouldn’t burn. To accurately check the temperature of the turkey, I bought this thermometer and thought it worked well. Sometimes the simpler, the better!

Sides

As far as other sides, I made the mashed potatoes from this cookbook. They are delicious! But I made wayyyy to much. I ended up quadrupling the recipe which was too much and probably should have just doubled it. To save time and energy the day of Thanksgiving, I made them the day before and put them in the crockpot the morning of to warm up.

I also made the green bean casserole from this cookbook as well. And I thought it was just ok. It is more of a cleaned up version of the original. But next year, I think I will stick to the original. Or at least get the crispy onions. I made my own and they weren’t crispy enough.

I also got nervous and didn’t think I would have enough food and I made a lasagna from this cookbook. It was so good, but because we had so much food, it was hardly eaten at all. Kurt, Sloane and I had this the days after as leftovers, so at least I didn’t have to cook anymore! I will most definitely make this lasagna recipe again, but it was not needed for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Pie

And last but not least, I made my moms pumpkin pie which is the most delicious pie! It was super easy too. I ended up making it the Tuesday before Thanksgiving so I could get some of the cooking out of the way. This is the recipe I used and this is the dish I have (my mom bought it for me!).

This is everything I cooked, but everyone else brought sides too. We had gravy and stuffing, cheesy potatoes (these were a huge hit!), mac & cheese, onion and zucchini casserole, apps and brownies. We had way more food than I thought. It looked like we didn’t eat at all! But it was all really good and I’m really happy with how it all turned out.

I had these to go containers on hand so everyone could take a little goodie bag home!

I’m so happy with how my Thanksgiving table décor turned out, the food & the people! Hopefully you gained a little inspiration if you are hosting for the first time too!